A Father's Death, A Daughter's Life
by CrimsonMoon21
Summary: She was a stranger in her own home, her mom and stepdad hated and ignored her. But then in the space of an hour her world is changed as a result of the secret surrounding her fathers death. Just when all seems hopeless in steps a young Law student
1. Her Life

Kagome sat at the edge of the lake watching the sunset. It was peaceful and she needed peace. She thought about her friends, her grandfather and little brother, the only ones who did not contribute to her pain. For that she was grateful. One could only take so much hurt. With this her thoughts turned.

She thought about the "others", her mom, and her step father. Her brother Souta was the joy of her mother and stepfather's lives, while she was left out, the forgotten daughter. It hurt to know her mother wouldn't look at Kagome the way she looked at Souta. Her mother looked at Souta with love, compassion and happiness while she looked at Kagome with regret, coldness and sadness and every time her mom said her name she could hear it in her voice. Every time she saw it in her mother's eyes her heart would break a little more. Her mother looked at her with love once; she remembered it clearly and mourned for the loss of her mother's love. Why did she stop loving her? Was it because of Ken, her stepfather? Could he have been the start of it all? She couldn't see how, it must be her fault.

A memory came to mind. It was Christmas and everyone had been up very early in the morning, everyone except her. It was supposed to be a happy time of the year, one of the few times that they could be a family even if it was just pretend. But it didn't happen that way. Her mother didn't wake her up; she only woke up her grandfather, Souta, and Ken. They had breakfast and opened the gifts and went to church, all while she was asleep. When she went downstairs she found no gifts waiting for except for one from grandpa and a little one homemade from Souta. She went into the kitchen only to find a few leftover pancakes. Then they walked in from church. Her grandpa gave her a big hug and a merry Christmas then went up to his room to rest. Souta gave her a hug and eagerly gave her is gift. When Souta went down to his playroom tears formed in her eyes and she looked towards her mother but she gave her barely even a passing glance, and Ken gave her a look that asked why are you even here? She ran to her room with her little gifts and cried for the family she once had. She knew then that she was not a part of this family. They did not love her and Souta was too young to understand but then again so maybe she was too, she was only twelve and still had a lot to learn. The only one who cared about her was her grandfather.

Her grandfather was her little light in her darkened home, but that light was slowly fading. He would tell her and Souta old stories of pioneers, pirates, foreign fairytales and legends. At one point in his life he traveled the world that's how he came across all of his stories. He gathered them all and arranged them into three books. They were never published. He didn't feel it was his right even though he received several generous offers. They were not his stories to make money off of so kept them to himself to share with his family and friends, that was part of what she loved about him he was honest. When Kagome turned sixteen he gave them to her, beautifully bound in dark brown leather each of the pages preserved to last several lifetimes organized by time and originating country. It was the best thing anyone had ever given her. Her mother and Ken were disapproving and said he spoiled her. She loved him dearly but soon she would lose him as well the thought alone made her want to cry, she couldn't imagine a life without grandpa, always there to get her mind off of her mother and Ken. He helped her to forget. He would never know of the pain she carried within herself, she didn't want him too he was old and deserved happiness. But home was not the happy place it once was when her father lived.

Her two best friends at school were her outlet; she loved them as one would love a family. How she should love her family. The sister she never had she found in Sango, her best friend. The sister she never had. Along the way they met Miroku. Miroku always gave the best advice, and at times it was cryptic instead of straightforward. He seemed to have no flaw, but those close to him knew better, he was somewhat of a lecher, it was funny. But he never took it far mostly a heavy insinuation or a grope here and there. When he was not groping Sango he was hitting on someone else, Kagome could tell she was jealous. Their spats were funny and often the highlight of Kagome's day. He would make a move on Sango and place his hand discreetly on the small of her back, she would not mind, but then his hand would travel south, she would scream at him and call him a perverted jerk and he would end up with a nicely shaped red handprint on his face. At the end of it all he would just smirk at her blush and say it was well worth it. It never got tiring. She cared about them more than they knew, she hated keeping things from them but she didn't want them to worry.

Thinking of her friends often started her thinking about her father. She only remembered him smiling and holding her when she was scared from a nightmare. When she remembered him she remembered feeling truly happy, if only she could see his face right now. She only had one picture of him when he was a senior in high school around the same time he met her mother, apparently they married that same year. She had his blue eyes and dark hair. Her grandfather told her about her father, he was the kindest person anyone could ever hope to meet. He told her he was glad when her father met her mother. But when she asked about their relationship he would make up some excuse no to tell her and only say they were happy together. Part of her did not think this was true but the other hoped it was. Something seemed very wrong. This thought brought her back to the thought that it was her fault; she was the cause of her mother's rejection. The relationship between her real parents her dad, Ichiro Higurashi, and her mom, Akiko Higurashi, now and for the past seven years since her dad died, Akiko Blake. It was weird for her when her mother had remarried so soon after her father died. She was really too young to understand but maybe her mother was just heartbroken and needed to fill that void? She didn't want to think about it. Realizing that the sun was already gone she stood and decided to jog back to her house. She hated walking alone in the dark.

When she reached her house and stepped inside she was greeted with silence as usual. No welcome home, or what are you doing home so late, no concern for her well being. Over the past three years she learned to seem as if she didn't care. It worked to fool others, but it never once fooled herself. She slipped into the kitchen quietly; she missed dinner again so she went to fridge to see what she could come up with. There was hardly anything, it's a wonder she hadn't starved to death after living here all these years. Once finished her mother and Ken walked through the door, they had obviously been drinking. Ken went into the kitchen paying no attention to Kagome, much to her relief, she didn't trust him enough when he was sober, in his current state anything could happen. It did once and she shivered at the memory pushing it back into the recesses of her mind. She didn't want to think about it, she didn't need to be reminded. It hurt too much. Again, taken out of her thoughts there was a loud banging on the door. She went and answered it quickly, not wanting to anger her mother. She had to do everything. When she opened the door she was greeted with the deep voice of a man.

"Is this the residence of Ken and Akiko Blake?" he asked.

"Yes"

Before she could register anything else he walked in followed by four others, who were wearing police uniforms. Quickly they made their way towards the living room and kitchen and found her mom and stepfather.

"What's going on!" she nearly screamed

Without looking towards her they continued what they were doing. Their words shocked her into in to an immobile state. And her grandfather who had heard the commotion paled and looked at her with sorrowful eyes.

"Mr. And Mrs. Blake, you are under arrest for the murder of Ichiro Higurashi."


	2. It Begins

She sat around in the police station with her grandfather and little brother. This was no way to spend a Saturday night. Her grandfather was very quiet, hardly looking at her or Souta. He sat worried and unaware of the searching stare his granddaughter was giving him. She wanted to hear what he had to say. To tell her he knew nothing of this. But within herself she knew this was impossible. From all of the conversations she had with her grandfather about her parents she knew he wasn't telling her something. She was always left to wonder what that something was. She refused to believe that her mother was responsible for her father's death. It couldn't be her mother loved her father too much to do such a thing, didn't she?  
Kagome stopped looking at her grand father. It was clear she would get no answers from him. She looked at Souta; he was trying hard not to fall asleep. She got his attention and motioned for him to lay across two chairs rest his head in her lap. He looked at her with a grateful smile and complied. She began to hum a song to him to help him sleep. It was one of her own songs that she had written just for Souta when he had turned eight, Souta knew it well, after everyone had left his party and his parents went out she was left to put him to bed. She told him she didn't give him all of his gifts yet. He was so curious and impatient, she smiled at the memory. He was nearly jumping up and down on the bed. She said it was a song and asked him if he wanted to hear it. He was asleep just as she ended the song. She was brought out of her musings when she heard her name being called. "Kagome?" Souta inquired "Yeah" She answered. "Could young sing the words, Please?" She looked around to make sure she would disturb no one. "Sure."  
  
I remember when you were first born You were the light of mama's eyes Your little eyes were shining with joy Untouched by awful lies At the time I never knew How much you would mean to me But now I'm older and understand All you have made me see.  
  
Hope lies in your little eyes The world is better But it is no surprise The way you came to us to love and live There is no more precious a gift to give  
  
My world is better thanks to you I would give up But there is so much I want to do  
  
"Miss Higurashi" Called a voice from across the room, interrupting her song; he motioned for her to follow him. Souta was sleeping in her lap. Carefully she removed her coat and laid Souta's head on it and kissed him quickly on the forehead before following the officer into the office. "Yes?" She asked. "Your mother and father." He started. "Step-father." She interrupted. "Step-father," he continued. "Will remain here for a few weeks, I need to know if you have any other place to stay." "Why can't we just stay at our house with my grandfather?" She asked. "Because he is not fit to take care of you." "I've been taking care of him and Souta for a long time. We can manage." She insisted. "You are only seventeen, are you not?" he asked and she nodded. "If you were of legal age we could send you home with Souta and your grandfather, but you are not. In this case we must arrange for a place for you to stay." "Will you separate me and Souta?" "I don't know we may have to. Your grandfather must stay with us for a while but he will be put up in a nursing home to be paid for by the city." "Why does he have to stay and what do you mean you don't know?" "He must stay for questioning and we are not sure if there is any place that will take both of you." "Please you can't separate us, Souta needs me." "Are you sure it's not you who needs him?" She looked at him insulted. "It works both ways. He needs the reassurance of someone close to him as I need to know that he is safe and happy, we depend on each other. "You sound more like his mother than your mother does" he commented. "I might as well be I'm the one whose been taking care of him for most of his life." She stated. "Very well I'll see what I can do for you and your brother but for the next two days you will stay in a hotel down the street and be monitored just in case something goes wrong." "Why would something go wrong?" she asked suddenly curious as to why she or her brother could be in danger. "I can't talk about it, it is a matter for the lawyers you may even be required to stay with one of them if need be." "What! Why would lawyers do something like that?" she asked. "You got me there, sometimes for safety other times compassion, or a judges order." "Oh, so who will be the lawyers for my parents?" "We have a very good defense lawyers on standby but it's too early for anything to be put in order, the arrest was after all just made yesterday."  
  
"I have another question why did you make us stay here all day and night?" "It couldn't be helped; there was nowhere else for you to go." "Oh, you realize you took away my study time, if I knew was gonna be stuck here this long I would have brought my books with me." "I'm sure you're teachers will understand; now it's time for you and you're brother to move along and go to the hotel. You will stay there until we find something else suitable." "But..." She was cut off when he shut the door on her. She made her way back to her brother and grandfather. In almost no time at all they were being ushered out of the station and taken to a nearby hotel by the name of Nature's Rest which she found weird seeing as it in no way looked as serene as its name, it was a four story brick building that looked like an ominous giant in the faint glow of moon and street lights, a couple of the windows looked cracked; it sure didn't look like it could provide "nature's rest". Hopefully it was nicer on the inside. No such luck. To her disgust the room suited all of the hotel horror stories and stereotypes she had ever heard of. There was one bedroom and a bathroom to the left as they entered. The bathroom looked as if it hadn't been cleaned in months. The bedroom wasn't any better. The window was slightly cracked and whistled a little when the wind blew, the walls had yellow stains on them and the ceiling had fallen out in certain places and no curtains. The room was, to put it lightly, a dump. She had seen homeless shelters that were five times better than this. How they could even stay in business was a mystery to her. Coming out of her thoughts she looked towards Souta who was about ready to fall over form exhaustion. A ten year old shouldn't have to deal with things like this. Gently she moved him to the nearest bed and tucked him in and then checked to see if her grandfather was comfortable. She was about to leave the room to sleep on the couch when a hand grabbed her shirt. "Kagome, could you sleep with me?" Souta asked pleadingly. "Sure." She replied with a small smile as she got under the covers. Giving him a small kiss on the forehead she waited for him to fall asleep before she did and was again brought back to her thoughts. She wondered if anything would ever be the same again but came to the conclusion that it would never be. Everything had changed, and when the kids at school find out they wouldn't be kind about it. She looked down at Souta who was now snoring softly and smiled at his innocent face. It was going to be a long few months, or years, she thought as she drifted into an uneasy sleep.  
  
Authors Note: Hey there. I think this chapter may have been a tad on the boring side. But it was necessary to show the relationship between her and her brother, unless I decide to change my mind about a few things. Thanks for reading! And review please. 


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